All posts tagged: events

This Saturday was AetherCon, Wellington’s first (hopefully annual) Steampunk convention. I really want to support any sort of historically inspired costuming in Wellington, so I agreed to do a talk on the historical origins of Steampunk Fashion. In the weeks before had lots of fun sprucing up costumes and finishing UFO’s and even making some new things. Unfortunately the day itself did not start well. It was pouring. A dear friend was kind enough to lend me her apartment – only three blocks from the venue – for dressing in, but I still had to get all my garments from my house to the car, from the car to the apartment, and then get the models from the apartment to the venue – all without getting the dresses (and models) soaked and bedraggled. Ergh. I put the dresses in plastic bags to transport between my place and the apartment, and stuck every umbrella I owned in the car. And then I prayed. Nothing else to do. I got soaked getting to the car and getting …

Mark your calendars and plan your trips to Wellington dear readers, because in addition to all the fabulous classes I’m teaching, there are some exciting events coming up for me in the next few months. First, on the weekend of October 13, Wellington is having its very first steampunk convention ever: AetherCon. In addition to workshops and fashion shows and contests and exhibitors and lots of other fun stuff, I’m going to be giving a talk on the intersections of Steampunk and history. I’ll be talking about the fashion tropes, where they come from, some real people behind the personas and lots of other fun stuff. And then, of course, there is a Steampunk ball! Swoon! Moving to the end of October, from the 25-28th of Oct, Full Swing is hosting Wellington’s annual Swing ball (and workshops and competitions and vintage shopping tours and other fun stuff): Windy Lindy. This year’s theme is Blitz Ball, so it’s the perfect opportunity to dig out your best ’40s gear! Don’t have the perfect ’40s dress? Well, you’re …

Whenever I give a talk there are certain questions I can be almost certain I will be asked. How long does it take to make one of these dresses? A long time. A long, longtime. But it does depend on the dress. A Regency, even hand-sewn, can go together in 12 hours. I actually counted with the tea gown, and it took between 32-40 hours from draping to hemming. The Ninon dress was much longer, thanks to all the hand-sewing and bodice boning. The Japonisme dress would have been relatively quick, were it not for the hand-appliques obi motifs. Are the dresses (and corsets) uncomfortable to wear? Chiara in Ninon said “Yes!” much too enthusiastically to this question this time, much to my chagrin.Certainly cramming all five us into a car for the ride from dressing to Premier House didn’t help with the comfort factor. I like to say that they are ‘differently comfortable’. Like a suit isn’t the same as jeans, but you wouldn’t necessarily say uncomfortable. How do you sit in them? …